Vinegar as a rust remover.

Vinegar as a rust remover.

by Liv Published on November 20th, 2009, 4:51 pm Rift: Sciences

I'm currently cussing at a piece of crap strut mount pinch bolt..... I did however find this sciency linky for your enjoyment.... now, how to get entire front end of car dipped in vinegar?

And no, don't say it... I tried PB Blaster, Torch, Impact Wrench, 1/2 Drive with 6" bar attached.

Did I ever mention to you how much I hate seized bolts? No really....

[A Person]

Those can be a beast. All too easy to shear them off and you don't want that.

You do know they're a left hand thread don't you?

(that was a joke btw)

[Liv]

Mine are crackin welded is what they are....

I did manage to get one pinch bolt, but it's one thing after another.... it's amazing that people up north ever even drive with this crap....

[A Person]

About your only option is to heat it, soak it with penetrating oil - wait a day and repeat. You want to heat the hub rather than the bolt. But I think you know that. Good luck

[Liv]

Unfortunately all I have is propane, though it did work on the one side. This car is just absurd.... Apparently no body has touched a bolt since it was purchased by my Grandparents in 93' then driven around northern Ohio in salt and snow for 16 years....

I'm so ready to scream it's not funny.... I so would not be doing this if I had the money to pay someone.... I really don't understand the "joy" of the shade-tree mechanic.... (at least at this point)....

Everytime you go to fix one thing, 2 other things break.... and the darn car only has 60,000 miles on it.

[Questioner]

I'm currently cussing at a piece of crap strut mount pinch bolt..... I did however find this sciency linky for your enjoyment.... now, how to get entire front end of car dipped in vinegar?

And no, don't say it... I tried PB Blaster, Torch, Impact Wrench, 1/2 Drive with 6" bar attached.

Did I ever mention to you how much I hate seized bolts? No really....

I assume you tried WD-40?

This is funny. My son called home from college a week or so ago because after getting the lug nuts off, he couldn't get the wheel off his car. I suggested WD-40 but he later told me he just kicked hell out of it and it came off. The brute force school of mechanics.

[antifascist]

you need a breaker bar(longer=better), a six point socket of the appropriate size-clean the outer surfaces so that the socket fits snugly, and a five pound sledge. If you've got any room at all, you can generate forces on that nut much higher than an impact wrench. Failing that...cut the damned thing off. you can always tap it out and install a new stud or nut.

with continual salt exposure those undercar fittings essentially become one piece. Even if you get the nut off, the stud could be weakened enough to fail. usually happens in rush hour traffic when you cant avoid that huge pothole.

[Liv]

I'm currently cussing at a piece of crap strut mount pinch bolt..... I did however find this sciency linky for your enjoyment.... now, how to get entire front end of car dipped in vinegar?

And no, don't say it... I tried PB Blaster, Torch, Impact Wrench, 1/2 Drive with 6" bar attached.

Did I ever mention to you how much I hate seized bolts? No really....

I assume you tried WD-40?

Yup, and PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, Freeze Off....

I did finally get it off after an additional 3.5 hours of work. Went through 2 impact sockets, several extension bars, and several rachets.